White Elephant
by WilliTSpears
Summary: It's the team's Christmas party. Yes, i know Christmas is over. Everyone brings White elephant gifts- and some of them are not what you'd call normal. Yaoi, Rated T. Also featuring Hanai x Tajima
1. In which the fun begins

This isn't how it was supposed to be. This isn't how the story goes. It's prince meets princess, right? Boy meets girl? A yay for straight relationships, with happily ever afters in far far away land? As far as he knew, making out with your ace pitcher wasn't part of the picture. He didn't mean to, he didn't know what he was doing, it just sort of… happened.

/

What led up to this? He couldn't remember. Here he was, kissing his own clean-up hitter, full on the mouth, tongue and all. This wasn't supposed to happen, like ever! He was team captain, for Christ's sakes! What sort of captain made out with their clean-up hitter? This was wrong, really wrong, even if he was a great kisser…

/

A few hours earlier

"Welcome to our non-denominational, snow-themed winter celebration!" said a hyped-up Tajima. Hanai was already regretting bringing coke instead of the sugar-free, caffeine-free sprite that probably would have lessened the effect on his friend's system.

"You know, you can just call it Christmas, I don't really care." He said to Tajima. Even though his family didn't celebrate the American holiday, that didn't mean the rest of the team had to make an exception.

"Hey guys. Merry Christmas!" Abe walked in, and close behind him was of course Mihashi. Both held presents for the White Elephant gift exchange.

"M-m-mer-r-y Ch-Christm-mas!" stumbled Mihashi, trying to get into the holiday spirit.

"Merry Christmas!" Said the rest of the team.

"Hey, Azzy, come help me put the gifts on this table!" Tajima started transporting gifts.

"Tajima! I told you not to call me that!" Hanai blushed right up to his ears at hearing the annoying little nickname. He should never have told him his first name at all.

"Oh, you're such a spoil-sport! Just help me out over here, ok… Azusa?"

"Tajima!"

Abe left them to battle it out, laying down his present on the table. Mihashi was still staring, though, and a worried look had crossed his face. Abe, seeing this, tried his best to make a consoling comment- something he knew he wasn't very good at.

"Mihashi, they're fine. Tajima's just playin' around, so stop worrying, and try to have some fun!"

The Ace pitcher flinched. '_God', _Abe thought, '_I can't tell if I was too hard on him, or if he's just being a baby! I guess I better back off, though'._ Even if Mihashi was overreacting, Abe didn't want him to feel uncomfortable or scared. It was Christmas after all!

Just then the redhead surprised him, expression changing almost instantly from intimidated to genuinely smiling. "O-okay, A-Abe-kun."

Abe turned away as his heart started beating a little faster than he would have liked. For some reason, Mihashi's smiles always made his chest beat harder, and blood rush uncontrollably up to his cheeks.

No- it wasn't just for some reason. In fact, the catcher knew exactly what was making him act like this, even though he'd told himself to just ignore these facts. For over a year now, Abe had had a crush on the little Pitcher. Mihashi of course had no idea, but he was worried that the team would start finding out- or that, worse, they already had.

He was distracted when Mihashi asked how he could help. "Uh, yeah. Could you get the star for the tree? It's in that box over there."

Despite his efforts at finding something else to distract him, Abe couldn't help but stare as Mihashi bent over. 'Crap!' he thought. Quickly looking away, he cursed at himself. If things like this kept happening he'd get a hard-on, and THAT would be fun to explain to the guys.

He made a mental note not to let Mihashi help with putting up ornaments.


	2. The first gift is opened

Even though he didn't much care for Christmas as a holiday, Hanai had to admit that the decorations looked great- especially for the fact that they'd just thrown this together at the last minute. The tree was in the corner, which wasn't exactly an evergreen, but it had ornaments and lights so technically it would count. Socks on the mantle place replaced stockings, but they weren't going to be putting their presents in socks anyways- Man, the Americans had weird traditions.

Despite his protests, Tajima had jokingly hung a clump of mistletoe in the middle of the room. Even if it WAS just a joke, the team mostly skittered past on the sides, unless they really had to dash across the middle. Yep, this was going to be an interesting Christmas.

Dinner was pretty uneventful, but everyone had fun anyways. Everyone had decided on Miso Soup, and it was delicious. Hanai gave himself a mental note to thank Mihashi's mom. With an excited "Present time!" from Tajima, the team settled down in the main living room, sitting in a circle. This year, they were trying a new game- instead of thinking of presents for everybody, they would be doing a White Elephant Gift Exchange.

One present for each team member was placed in a pile in the middle of the circle. None had tags, and each person would choose a random present to open. In America, goofy gifts like thermometers or broken soap was inside the bags- you had to be careful which one you chose. If you didn't want to take your chances, you could steal once from someone who had already opened their gift. If your present got stolen, you'd get to pick again.

Hanai looked away as Tajima plopped down beside him, hiding a blush that had crept up to his cheeks. He didn't even want to KNOW what Tajima brought. On an impulse he looked up, making sure there was no mistletoe- his situation with Tajima was complicated enough, to the point that he wasn't sure it was just captain and player anymore.

Abe, sitting on the opposite end of the room, jumped a little as Mihashi scuttled to his side. It was a well-known fact that Abe was Mihashi's best friend on the team, but Abe still felt happy that he would choose to sit next to him. When Mihashi scooted closer, subconsciously, Abe blushed faintly and attempted to focus on the game.

To make it fair, everyone picked numbers for the order people would open presents. Ironically, Mihashi picked number 1, remembering instantly the number sharpied on the back of his uniform. Tajima got 2, Hanai got 6, Abe got 8. Mihashi reached out to the pile of presents, quickly snatching a bag with a snowman pattern.

Sakaeguchi's eyes suddenly widened and he let out a noticeably audible smirk, which he immediately tried to mask. Abe suddenly felt bad for Mihashi, knowing Sakaeguchi as well as he did. This was pretty out of character, so something had to be wrong with that gift.

Mihashi peered inside, and instantly flushed red in total embarrassment.

"What's in there?" said an increasingly annoying Tajima. Now he had to take it out of the bag. He lifted the item out from the filler paper in the bag, and displayed it cautiously to the rest of the team. The thing in question was a book, titled "Junjou Romantica, Volume 8"- the most perverted book in a yaoi manga series. (Me: okay okay that's just personal opinion). The guys all started giggling madly, and Mihashi was still staring at the boys love novel.

Everyone stopped giggling when Tajima ran across the room, snatching the book from Mihashi and scurrying back to his place. He lay back onto Hanai's lap, flipping through its contents.

"Hey Azusa lookie here! Usagi and Misaki are-"

Hanai blushed and tried to block out what was on the page Tajima had shoved into his face. He pushed the cleanup hitter off him, scooting a bit farther away. Now the guys were laughing their asses off. What a great start to the evening, thought Hanai.


	3. Taji's present

After everyone had had a laugh, Abe attempted to calm Mihashi down, assuring him that they weren't laughing at or making fun of him. They then shifted their attention to number 3, and Suyama picked a plain rectangular present, with snowflake patterned paper on a blue backdrop. To his embarrassment it turned out to be a love diary, and he quickly put it away, causing a few snickers. Then number 4 was Izumi, then Mizutani, and so on.

On his turn, Hanai reached out for one that looked least like it would be from Tajima. An oddly-shaped, cylindrical present with green wrapping paper and a red bow at the top. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Izumi hide a smile, and knew then who it was from. He ripped off the wrapping to see what looked like a container of oatmeal. Inside, though, was a rolled-up pair of pink, frilly pajamas, curiously just his size. Did Izumi somehow know which one he would open? He wouldn't be caught dead wearing these, anyways.

"Used to be my mom's." he heard Izumi whisper to Nishihiro, who smiled. Hanai just rolled his eyes and placed his new pjs behind him. Nishihiro went next, and then it was Abe's turn.

There weren't many presents left, so Abe took his time deciding. He settled on the smallest gift- after all, those were the ones that were the best, right? And, maybe, just maybe it would be the one Mihashi brought! He reached out and as soon as his hand touched it Tajima's eyes widened slightly. He couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad sign, but he reckoned he'd soon find out. He shook it, but couldn't tell what was inside.

He unwrapped the box and started to lift the lid. Quick as a flash, Tajima dove towards his present, snatching what was inside before Abe had a chance to look. He stood up and dangled it over the Catcher's head.

"Ha!" Tajima exclaimed, triumphant. Abe looked up and did a double take. There, hanging above him was a branch of mistletoe. Everyone had instantly become silent.

"So, who's it gonna be?" Tajima was smirking now, barely containing his laughter. Mizutani, who was sitting on the other side of Abe, quickly scooted away from him as inconspicuously as he could manage. Abe, however, couldn't move a muscle- he was still dumbstruck. He looked over to Mihashi, who at this point was just blankly staring up at Tajima, also lost for words.

'What are you doing?' his mind was screaming at him- that little part that he'd tried to squelch for more than a year. 'This is your chance, dude! Mihashi's RIGHT THERE! Go for it!' Still conflicted, he hadn't moved. Tajima was getting bored of the lack of action, so he made Abe's decision for him. He kicked Abe's back, sending the catcher flying towards Mihashi, landing on top of him so that they were both on the floor.

Abe picked himself up, supporting himself only with his hands, and stared down at the now flustered Mihashi. Mihashi blushed bright red and his eyes were wide, looking at the other team members, who at this point were just engrossed in the spectacle before them. It was just so CUTE when he looked insecure like that! Abe finally snapped, not caring anymore who was in the room.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against Mihashi's. The ace pitcher closed his eyes tightly but stopped shaking, slowly relaxing into the kiss. This was what Abe had always dreamed of, and what he'd always thought would never happen. He slowly massaged Mihashi's lips, and slipped his tongue over his mouth, asking for entrance. To his surprise, it was granted, and soon they were a mass of swirling tongues and hot breath.

This isn't how it was supposed to be. This isn't how the story goes. It's prince meets princess, right? Boy meets girl? A yay for straight relationships, with happily ever afters in far far away land? As far as he knew, making out with your ace pitcher wasn't part of the picture. He didn't mean to, he didn't know what he was doing, it just sort of… happened.


	4. A happy Christmas

They broke from the kiss, and Abe awkwardly sat up, realizing what he had just done. Mihashi probably hated him now, and, he thought, so did the whole team. He went to get up, wanting to leave the room as soon as possible. Nobody ever expected what just happened would ever happen, and Abe had tried so hard to keep it that way. Now it was all ruined, and he just wanted to leave.

As he tried to stand, a hand gripped his arm. It was Mihashi, who had stood up as well. He was bright red, but had a flare of determination in his eyes. He turned to the rest of the team, who by this point were just staring bluntly at the two. Mihashi let go for just a second, bowing for the other players.

"I ap-p-pologize f-for the d-disturbance!" he stuttered in apology. "H-have a H-happy C-Christmas!" With that he pulled Abe towards the stairs, to where everyone realized was Mihashi's bedroom.

An awkward silence filled the room for a good 5 minutes before Tajima spoke up.

"Well then, who's next?"

"Mihashi, what are you-"Abe tried to get out the sentence but Mihashi silenced him as they stopped in the middle of Mihashi's room. His moment of confidence vanished and he stood, staring at his bedroom floor, lost for words.

"Mihashi, I'm sorry, I-"

"Can you do it again?" Mihashi interrupted him. Abe's eyes widened in astonishment. Was this actually happening? It wasn't just a dream?

"C-can I do what?" now Abe was stuttering- Abe never stuttered!

"C-can you… kiss m-me again, Abe- no, T-takaya…"

Abe flushed at the sound of his name. Of course he could. Of course he would.

"Sure, Ren."

He hugged the little pitcher close, and felt the pitcher's lips press against his as they sank down onto the bed. Abe didn't care how it worked; he didn't want to find a princess, and sure as hell didn't want to move to some far off land. He realized that he felt best right here, being with Mihashi- and that that was the best present he could ever ask for.

(Extra)

The rest of the team managed to go on with the Christmas party like normal. They all tried not to mention the situation upstairs- a mutual agreement to avoid certain awkwardness. Everyone had fun, though, singing carols and playing a few more games, but then it was time to go home

Even though it wasn't on the way, Tajima walked Hanai home- not that it was like that, Hanai thought to himself- they were just having a conversation, and Tajima wanted to finish it before he went home for the night.

"Wait up a sec, Azusa." Tajima said, fishing out his phone.

"Tajima, I told you not to-"

"Shhhhhh!" Tajima dialed a number and walked off to a corner. Hanai had no idea who he was talking to, but he looked like he was having fun. Maybe it would be best to just walk home from here, leave Tajima to his business. Just as he started walking off, Tajima hung up the phone, and jogged to catch up.

"Alright, we're all set!" the shorter said excitedly.

"Set for what?"

"Oh, um, nothing." He said, as if he had something he was hiding. "You'll find out soon anyways."

He wasn't sure he wanted to find out, but apparently that wasn't his choice. Surprisingly, though, nothing happened between Mihashi's and his house worth noting. They were on the porch at Hanai's place now, and Hanai waved goodbye.

"See ya, Merry Christmas."

"Wait!" he felt a hand on his wrist. "You're forgetting something!"

Forgetting what, exactly? Despite his attempts to rid himself of the pink pjs, they were still in his bag.

"Huh?"

"Well, this of course!" he whipped something out of his pocket, green and white, and held it up over their heads. Hanai blushed bright red, staring at the offending mistletoe.

"The hell, Tajima! Are you kidding me! That's not funny, you know-"he was silenced by a hand over his mouth.

"No, I'm not, Azusa." Now he was blushing harder. This had to be a joke, right? A really sick one- yeah that had to be it-

His thoughts were interrupted when the hand was removed from his mouth, and Tajima stood up on his tiptoes. Then he pressed his lips against the captain's.

Hanai's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't pull back. The cleanup hitter's lips were… surprisingly soft. He felt himself relaxing, leaning down a little, so that Tajima wasn't on his tiptoes anymore.

What led up to this? He couldn't remember. Here he was, kissing his own clean-up hitter, full on the mouth, tongue and all. But… but… this wasn't supposed to happen, like ever! He was team captain, for Christ's sakes! What sort of captain made out with their clean-up hitter? This was wrong, really wrong, even if he was a great kisser…

It was Hanai who pulled away, looking around awkwardly. Tajima frowned from the loss of connection, but then he brightened.

"Oh, so you want to continue this upstairs or something?" he said with his usual goofy smile. Now, though, he was starting to really like that smile- starting to think it was CUTE. He struggled to find an excuse.

"M-my sisters." Was all he could muster. That was a pretty lame excuse, he thought.

"They wouldn't dare come in if we were-"

Hanai cut him off. "But you can't stay over, your mom would be worried."

Tajima laughed. "It's all fine! That was the person I called earlier! She said it would be fine to stay over!"

"Wait, you arranged this? How did you know I would say yes?" he was suddenly a little angry.

"Because you're so predictable. Watch this, I'll make you blush up to your ears." He said, planting a quick kiss on Hanai's cheek again. Sure enough, he flushed. Was he really that predictable?

"Sh-shuddup Taji-"

"Nope- you gotta call me Yuuchirou now!"

"No chance Taji-"

"Yuuchirou! It's my name, use it!"

"Fine, YUUCHIROU! Are you happy now?"

"Yes."

Hanai was pretty sure he had broken his record for number of times blushing in an hour. Tajima followed him inside, and the door closed.

**Man that was a long chapter! Well it really wasn't but compared to the length of my other ones- anyways review! I can't wait to hear them!**


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